Blind Faith
by Lady Luce
Summary: After a fight with Fang Iggy's cornered by Erasers and given an offer. Now he faces a dilema which could destroy the flock completely. The stakes are high, betray his friends and regain his sight or submit to an endless life of nightmares.
1. Prologue

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

_**A/N:** This story is post 'Maximum Ride' because I haven't read the whole of the first book yet, and I didn't want everything to seem out-dated so no flying Erasers and all that. It's also AU probably, I wouldn't honestly know. And just to get this the right way around I love Iggy ever since he first turned up in the book and did a face-plant into the sofa :) _

_I apologise for the shortness of this chapter, the next one will be longer, this is just the prologue._

**Prologue:**

_"One should rather die than be betrayed. There is no deceit in death. It delivers precisely what it has promised. Betrayal, though ... betrayal is the willful slaughter of hope." - Steven Deitz._

It wasn't all that hard to understand really, when one thought about it, when one thought long and hard about it. She could understand why he had done it, she knew his motives and knew that Erasers could wrap anyone around their little finger. She just never thought that it would happen to him. In all her fourteen years Max had never thought that something like this would happen to the flock - it was even more devastating than when Jeb had left two years ago.

Her hand reached out tentatively stroking a lock of blond hair out of Iggy's bruised face. The bandage wrapped tightly around his forehead was stained with blood, the bandage would need to be changed soon.

Someone put a hand on her shoulder and she would have jumped had she not been used to it by now.

"Fang," Her voice nearly broke but she held it. Max was good at being strong, that was her job wasn't it?

The dark haired boy pulled up a chair and sat down next to her, seeing that for once in her life Max was close to tears.

"He doesn't deserve your pity, you know that," Fang said his voice tight as he glared down at Iggy's pale face. He just wished that the boy would wake up so that he could beat the living tar out of him.

"Doesn't he?" Max asked quietly. "Think about it Fang, put yourself in his situation for one second.

"I don't care," Fang muttered darkly. "He doesn't deserve this we should have just left him there."

Max didn't respond. She understood why Fang was so angry, she understood that Iggy had deserved everything he got, but she couldn't have left him at the school like that, she just couldn't. She'd have to watch Fang, she knew that he'd take every chance he got to kill Iggy the moment he woke up.

"Where are the others?"

"Sleeping," Fang answered. "Nudge is getting better I think, she managed to keep more of her food down anyway."

Max sighed. That was good she guessed. Her mind was too muddled to think straight and her stomach hurt like someone had kicked her - hard. She was too anxious to sleep and she daren't leave Iggy for fear that Fang would go through with his many gruesome threats. She had always known that Fang could have a temper on him when he was provoked, but she had never known how fierce it could be. It frightened her if she was honest with herself, more than she's like to admit.

At the moment though she wasn't really concentrated on that, her mind was too full of questions - she wondered if this was what Nudge felt like all the time. What would happen when Iggy woke up? Would he want to talk to them? Would he run away? Would Fang actually go through with his threat and throw him out the window? Would the others ever accept him again? Would their family ever be fixed, be back to normal like it had been before?

Like always - like she had done one thousand times before that night and the day before that she started again from the beginning…

* * *

_Reviews will be kept close to the heart. Next update soon hopefully :)_

_-ElvenHope_


	2. Chapter 1

-**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 1**

'_Arguing with your friends is like arguing with yourself, every time you fight you're battling your own will.' - Anon._

"Would you just watch where you're going!"

"What did you say?" Iggy's blind eyes turned on the dark haired boy ire showing clearly on his face.

Fang could have slapped himself for being so stupid and yet he wasn't going to back down now. "You heard what I said stupid, or are your ears finally failing you?"

"This is all _your_ fault," Iggy said indignantly. "And your calling_ me_ stupid?_"_

"Yes," Fang answered the next words falling from his lips before he could comprehend what he was saying or the effect they would have on his friend. "Read my lips," he laughed. "Oh I forgot, you can't."

Iggy's face twisted into an expression of pure rage as he launched himself at the boy knocking them both to the floor with a hard thump.

"Max!" Nudge practically screamed from where she stood with Angel across the room. She had grabbed the younger girl when the boys had started fighting and now she was certain that she was out of her depth. She knew she couldn't break the pair of them up by herself, but she also feared that someone would get severely hurt. Iggy managed to deliver a few good blows to Fang, before the larger boy reversed their positions pinning Iggy on his back and smacking him upside the head.

"Nudge? What is it?" Max raced into the room at the sounds of shouting followed by the Gasman. She traced Nudge's horror stricken gaze immediately to the pair grappling on the floor.

"Fang! Iggy!" Max shoved the Gasman over to Nudge and Angel before crossing the distance to where they were fighting. By the time she reached them Iggy had managed to knock Fang off of him and was reaching around blindly for the older boy. Fang was so silent that Iggy couldn't find him fast enough allowing Fang to get the upper hand and trip him over. Iggy grabbed Fang's ankle and pulled it out from under him causing the dark haired boy to fall onto his back with what to Iggy was a satisfying smack.

The next few moments were a complete blur and when Max finally reached them she had some difficulty pulling them apart. Iggy was sporting a bleeding nose and split lip and Fang wasn't doing much better himself, dark bruises already spreading under his eyes.

"That's enough!" Max yelled shaking them both and holding them at arms length either side. Iggy was still struggling, but Fang had stopped brushing some of his dark hair out of his eyes.

"What's gotten into you two?" Max asked her eyes turning from one boy to the other. Iggy stopped moving knowing that it was useless now, Max wouldn't let them fight again, she had positioned herself between them so that any blow either of them sent would hit her. He wiped blood away from his nose with the back of his hand once again wishing that he could see. Wishing that he could just glare at Fang.

When neither of them spoke Max shook her head. "Fine, Fang go start dinner or something, Iggy I need to see to your nose."

"I'm fine," Iggy said trying to brush her off, but Max held onto his arm tightly and steered him towards the bathroom.

Fang glowered at the other boy as he passed then turned and walked over to the kitchen past Nudge and the others who shifted sideways to make room for him still slightly nervous.

Max pushed open the bathroom door and shoved Iggy inside still cross with him - and Fang - for fighting in front of the others like that.

"Sit down," she commanded and Iggy found the edge of the bath perching on it. He could feel the tension coming off of Max in waves and knew that he was in for a lecture.

Max rummaged around in a cupboard until she found the antiseptic and a clean cloth then moved over and sat down on the edge of the bath next to Iggy. She tried to dab at his face and clean away the blood, but Iggy hissed when the antiseptic stung his wound.

"Iggy hold still," Max reprimanded pulling him back around to face her. "I don't know what got into you two, but you can't just do that - especially not in front of the others. They're only young, think about how it effects them. We hardly ever feel completely safe as it is they don't need you two shouting the odds every time you have a disagreement."

"I know Max, I'm sorry," Iggy hung his head ashamed of himself. "Is Fang alright?"

Max nodded even though she knew Iggy couldn't see it. "Yeah, I think you got the worst of it Ig."

"Figures," the boy picked at a loose thread on his jeans.

A few seconds of silence followed then Max stood up and announced that she was done. Iggy didn't follow her and Max turned around confused.

"Iggy are you coming?" Max asked worried by the look on her friend's face.

"I don't know," Iggy answered quietly. "I think I'll just stay here for a while, Fang hates me at the moment."

"Do you mind telling me why Iggy?" Max asked leaning against the doorframe.

Iggy looked up at her - if it could be called looking. "I'll tell you later ok? I just wanna be on my own right now."

"Ok Ig," Max said leaving the room rolling her eyes slightly. Iggy had always been the quiet one, maybe Fang would tell her what had happened, then again he could be just as stubborn.

Iggy left the bathroom shortly after Max heading for the door. If he was quiet they wouldn't notice until he was well on his way. He just needed time to think, away from the flock, away from Fang. He loved them all so much, but he always knew that he was more of a burden sometimes. That annoyed him more than he'd like to admit.

He flew for a long time before finally landing in the trees in the edge of the woods, perched somewhat precariously on one of the top most branches.

This was another thing that annoyed him, he was hardly ever let out by himself. He knew every single landmark out here and yet they thought that he's get lost, either that or the others worried that he might run into some Erasers and not be able to spot them until it was too late. Though he had acute hearing, it was sometimes not enough against a gang of Erasers. Sure he could tell where they were but if they cornered him then all hope was pretty much lost.

The daylight faded away to dusk and finally Iggy decided that it was time to go home. Fang would have cooled down by now right? Then again he was always one for holding a grudge.

Free falling the first few feet out of the tree before finally catching a current of hot air he pushed upwards breaking out of the tree-line within a few powerful strokes of his fourteen foot wing span. The forest pealed out beneath him into dead trees until he was flying over open terrain and that was when it happened…

The sound warned him, even though it was softer than normal, the ripping of the air as a bullet sped towards him from the barrel of the silenced semi-automatic handgun.

An attempt to wheel sideways was aborted as the bullet ripped through his right slamming into his shoulder blade. The new found feeling of agony left his wing motionless and he dropped through the sky like a stone, wondering how quickly it would take for his world to end.

* * *

Fang was agitated, his body language showed it all clear as day and yet he insisted that he was fine. His black eye only intensified the glower he threw Max as she asked for what must have been the twentieth time that _hour_ if he was alright and whether he wanted to talk about it. 

Girls always seemed to have a need to talk about things. Whenever they had a problem they talked about it, in Nudge's case her problem was that she couldn't learn to shut up.

"Why were you arguing earlier?" Max asked starting to help Fang with dinner even though he had made it quite clear that he could do it himself.

"It doesn't matter anymore Max it was trivial," Fang replied eyeing Max suspiciously she had a knife in her hand, in his opinion that was a bad thing - and in his opinion it was slightly weak to be anxious of a girl.

"Then why did Iggy attack you like that," Fang looked up questioningly. "Nudge pretty much told me everything that happened. She just didn't hear what you said to Iggy to provoke him."

Fang sighed turning around to lean against the kitchen counter. "I was being stupid. I made fun of the fact that he was blind."

"You what?" Max shot him a dark look. "I could smack you too right now you know that? What on earth did you do that for? You know he can't help it!"

"Yeah," Fang looked at her. "I'm sorry about it, I really am it was an accident, it just slipped out…"

"You know how sensitive he is about that though… you just… you know!" Max was completely lost for words something quite uncommon for her and Fang held back the desire to back away a step.

"You think I should go and find him to apologise?" Fang asked his tone of voice saying that he knew he had done something incredibly wrong.

"No," Max put down the knife - she sounded disappointed in him, and that hurt Fang more than he would have liked to admit. "I'll go, you've done enough already."

Max wandered out of the kitchen into the living room where the younger ones were playing cards.

"I'm going to find Iggy, do you guys wanna come or are you staying here?" She asked almost knowing the immediate reaction she would get.

"Yes!"

"Good then stay close," Max ordered then shouted to Fang. "I'm taking the others too, you get food done by the time we come back!"

Angel jumped up followed by Nudge and Gazzy who followed Max as she headed for the door. There was no reply from Fang. To be honest Max hadn't expected one.

* * *

_A/N: I think this chapter is longer than the last one, though I still don't like how short it is,I hope you enjoyed it though not much goes on. Also I know that you don't actually know what they were fighting over, I have some ideas though I'm still narrowing it down, you'll probably find out sooner or later._

_I won't be here for 10 days I'm going to Venice tomorrow, but I'm taking my laptop so hopefully I'll get loads typed up :)_

_Thank you for all the wonderful reviews I cannot express enough how much they mean to me!_

_ElvenHope_


	3. Chapter 2

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 2:**

'_What would it take for you to trade your comrades for yourself? Would you choose them even when you're staring down the barrel of a gun.' - Anon._

When he woke he felt like someone had dumped a ton of bricks unceremoniously on his head, which wasn't entirely inaccurate, save for the fact that he was the one who had dropped out of the sky onto the rocks, and though there was a large amount of them it could hardly qualify as a ton.

His fingers moved instantaneously to the impressive knot forming on the back of his head and groaned feeling ill. He probably had a concussion, Jeb had taught them about medicine and injuries - just in case - but right now Iggy was too confused to think straight.

He assessed his injuries slowly, carefully testing anything that felt like it was broken. To his luck he found that nothing was broken though he was bruised all over and his head pounded like he had just been run over by a Humvee. The only serious injury he had, as far as he could tell, was that there was something wrong with his wing and shoulder, the slightest movement sent burning pain shooting across his right side.

That was when he remembered, just when he felt the chilling presence around him that made the hairs on the back of his neck stand on end.

He was not alone.

Quelling the instinctive urge to jump up and run for his life - with the injury he had sustained to his wing he doubted that he could fly - he lay still keeping his breathing even as he tried to get his muggy, fear stricken mind to focus.

Erasers, it had to be them, he could smell them on the air. Why hadn't they ripped him into shreds already? There was no point in running blindly from fear, he would have to think the situation through first, and ignore the irony of that last statement. It didn't matter that he couldn't see out here, he knew the place that he called home so well, but that didn't stop him from wishing that he could see it.

It was dark, the air was cold and he couldn't feel the sunlight - either that or he was inside somewhere, but it didn't feel like it. No, he was definitely outside, most likely where he fell, and he was surrounded by god only knew how many Erasers. Ten at least, probably more. He swallowed hard, hoping that the movement had gone unnoticed.

What were they doing? Were they waiting for him to wake up? No, they had seen him testing his injuries, they knew he was awake, so why then were they just standing there? Maybe they didn't know he was there. He didn't like this, he didn't know how long he could keep it up for either. Waiting was one of the most intolerable things in the world, why couldn't they just kill him and get it over with?

He didn't know what to do, surely if he tried to run they would kill him, maybe they thought that he was unconscious again, maybe they wanted him to run, maybe they were bored and wanted to have some sport with their prey. Stupid dog-minded half-human gits.

_Speak for yourself bird-brained mutant teenager…_

_Great,_ now he was loosing it and talking to himself, anything to forget the situation he was in right at that moment.

A sound to his right caught his attention, someone had stepped forwards, the dirt crunching under foot. Iggy nearly shot out of his skin when a smooth voice floated towards him from far closer than he had expected.

"Hello Iggy, long time no see."

* * *

Max sighed, it was dark, late and still there was no sign of Iggy, and what was worse the others were getting tired and hungry. She didn't want to think about the fact that dinner would have gone cold hours ago, there would be nothing for them to eat when they got back, unless Fang had been intelligent enough to put the food in the microwave. She was doubtful, when he was in such a mood it was unlikely for him to think straight.

"Max," Nudge whined and Max knew immediately what was coming next. "I'm hun-"

"I know Nudge," Max said cutting the younger girl off. She wasn't normally this intolerant of her smaller charges, but it was late, she had been flying for hours - was probably just as hungry as Nudge - and most importantly she was worried about Iggy. She had absolutely no idea where he had gotten to and worst case scenarios were running ragged through her conscious. What if Erasers had him? What if he was lying somewhere injured? What if…?

She didn't want to think about it, and convinced herself she wouldn't, because that would never happen, it couldn't happen, it just _couldn't_. Not after everything that had happened to them already, she didn't think she could stand it if Iggy left them too, just like Jeb had. That was nearly worse than finding him dead somewhere, never knowing, never knowing if he was alive or dead, never knowing if he was back at the school enduring further torment.

She shook herself inwardly chastising herself for thinking about such things. Now was _not_ the time to be thinking like that, it wasn't going to help.

A whimper from beside her caught her attention and she looked down slightly to see Angel there tears shining in her eyes. Max knew immediately that the girl had been reading her thoughts. That was the one bad thing about Angel's gift, you never felt completely private.

"Is that really going to happen Max?" Angel asked referring to the images of Iggy lying dead somewhere which had flashed through the elder girl's mind.

"No Angel, it's not, it's alright," Max wished that she could hug the younger child, but she was certain that it would not be a good idea to do so mid-flight. She wanted to send the others back now, but there might be Erasers on the loose, she knew that Nudge was intelligent, but she wasn't entirely sure that she could trust her with looking after Angel and Gazzy as well. God she hoped that Angel wasn't reading her mind still, she needed time to think and she couldn't whilst worrying about putting an age restriction on her own thoughts.

Nudge and Gazzy were looking at her worriedly wondering what Angel was talking about, Max shook her head when Nudge's mouth opened slightly, she couldn't handle anymore questions right now.

Max scanned the ground below making the executive decision that they should rest for a short while, only about five minutes, they didn't have that much time to waste, but she needed to think without any more distractions.

"Let's land down there for a moment," she said pointing to a clearing amongst a small scattering of trees already banking and spiralling down towards the ground. The other's followed quickly behind her.

* * *

"Ari."

Iggy tried to sit up, but stopped suddenly when a booted foot rested across his wind-pipe. Once again he found himself wishing for sight. If he could see then he would know whether this was simply a mere threat, or whether within a split second a crushing blow would be dealt and his life would end. He waited with baited breath, his heart jumping into his throat as a feeling of pure dread settled in the pit of his stomach.

When nothing happened after nearly half a minute Iggy did move. He reached up and tried to push the foot away, however stupid that might have been, he suddenly needed to get away. He struggled like a wild animal caught in a trap even though Ari was obviously far stronger than him - unless the fact that Iggy could get very little air into his lungs and that he was becoming light-headed was affecting his strength.

"Why are you bothering to fight Iggy, you know it's useless, you know that I could kill you at any second," Ari sneered down at the boy below him, Iggy's blind eyes stared back at him, it was slightly disconcerting.

"If you wanted me dead you'd have killed me already, Ari, unless you don't have the guts to do so," he growled. Iggy knew that aggravating someone when they had their booted foot crushing your wind-pipe had to be one of the most stupid things one could do in the world - close to sticking your finger in a plug socket or drinking a bottle of detergent because it looked like some new brand of soda. He was feeling reckless though, and the adrenalin rush was getting the better of him, if Ari was going to kill him he was going out with a bang.

"Don't test my patients bird boy," Ari spat, his foot shifting as he leant closer to Iggy making sure the boy could hear every word. "But you're right, I don't want you dead, not yet anyway. You see, you have some information that's extremely valuable to me and my colleagues. So it's like this, you listen to my proposition then you tell us what we want and we let you be on your way. Or we can do this the hard way and you can come back to the School with us. The decision is yours Iggy, but you know the consequences will be harsh if you don't cooperate."

Iggy took in the largest breath he could whilst in his predicament letting it out slowly. "I'm not going to tell you anything Ari, you know that as well as I do."

The foot on his wind-pipe pressed down a little harder and spots of light swirled across his mind disorientating him and making him feel light headed. "You're going to tell me freak, or you're going to pay big."

"Do your worst," Iggy's voice was nearly as smooth as Ari's, but inside his mind was screaming at him. He didn't want to die, he wasn't quite ready for that just this moment.

Ari snarled an indefinable curse at him and suddenly the crushing force on his wind-pipe was gone and Ari's hand tangled in his hair as he was jerked roughly to his feet.

Pain flashed up Iggy's spine at the sharp movement and he felt faint sagging slightly in Ari's hold before managing to gain control of himself. "Don't you understand you little twerp, I'm going to kill you right here, right now unless you tell me what I want to hear." There was the sound of the safety being pulled back on a handgun somewhere close to Iggy's right temple.

Iggy gulped, ice running through his blood. "And what is it that you want to hear?"

"I want to know where the rest of your little mutant friends are," Ari snarled. "I want you to help me get my hands on them once and for all."

Life or death? Did he really have a choice? He couldn't save himself and condemn the others, he couldn't imagine what Ari would do to them, he wouldn't be able to live with himself if they went back to the School, or worse…

"Tick-tock, tick-tock," Ari teased. "Time's running out bird boy, are you going to help me or am I going to have to put a bullet in your frontal lobe?"

Iggy took a deep breath, his eyes closing involuntarily - not that it made any difference - he forced them open again. If Ari was going to kill him then he wanted the last thing the Eraser saw to be the milky depths of his blind eyes. Oh they might look dead and unseeing now, but there was still life deep down there somewhere, would Ari really have the guts to put it out?

"I'm afraid Ari that you're going to have to kill me," Iggy said evenly trying desperately to sound brave, but failing miserably. He was of course terrified, who wouldn't be when they had the barrel of an automatic handgun aimed at their forehead. "I would never betray my friends like that, there is no question about it, next time bargain with something better than the promise of dark guilt for the rest of one's life."

Ari growled in rage smacking Iggy upside the head with the gun - it was a miracle it didn't go off - the smaller boy fell to the ground hard, all of the air knocked out of him.

"I need to know this do you understand me," Ari hissed into the other boy's ear holding Iggy down by his injured shoulder. "I _need_ to know so that I can get away from the School, I need to know so that I can be free."

Iggy was slightly stunned by this revelation, but didn't have the capacity to react at that moment, Ari's vice-grip was aggravating his shoulder wound, making him light-headed. He wondered idly how much blood he'd lost there was a warm patch on his back from the bullet wound, as far as he could tell it wasn't bleeding anymore.

"Damn you answer me!" Ari smacked him again this time he dropped the gun first and then grabbed it again in a strangle-hold the cool metal pressed hard underneath Iggy's chin. "I _need _to know!"

Once again Iggy was waiting for death to come and once again it didn't, Ari obviously didn't want to kill him, but the Eraser was mad now, insanely mad, his already short temper could go at any moment… and then _boom!_ No more Iggy.

* * *

Max was sitting _very_ still, her eyes closed, her head in her upturned palms, if it were not for her long figures massaging her temples Nudge might have thought that she had fallen asleep.

"Is she dead?" Gazzy asked peering at Max from where he sat next to Angel.

Nudge stood making her way towards the elder girl and shaking her slightly. "Uh, Max?"

"Wha'!" was the most eloquent answer Max could come up with her eyes snapping open as she sprang to her feet, startled. "Nudge what is it?"

"You've been sitting still for a long time," Nudge said slowly, there was something wrong with Max, she just couldn't discern what it was, "a _very_ long time. What are you thinking about?"

"She doesn't know where Iggy is," Angel answered for Max. "And she's worried about him because he can't see and she thinks there are Erasers out, and she wants us to go back, but she's worried the Erasers will get us and-"

"Yes thank you Angel," Max said cutting the younger girl off as her tongue began to trip over itself.

"Well I'm not going back," Nudge said a defiant look coming to her eyes. "I'm worried about Iggy too and I can't stand waiting."

"I know," Max said calmly. "But-" god knew she would regret saying this later "-I need Fang right now, I need his help, Nudge I know you can help, but Angel and Gazzy your too small to be away from one of us. To be honest Nudge the same goes for you too at the moment, I just don't know what has happened to Iggy, and I don't want the same thing to happen to one of you."

"Maybe we should go home," the Gasman suggested. "Maybe Iggy's already back home with Fang."

Max rolled her eyes, she could see that going down well - however it was still a possibility.

"You're right, we're not getting anywhere like this, we'll head for home, just keep your eyes peeled." Max was mentally bashing her head against a tree when Angel covered her eyes at the expression and Nudge was finally unable to hold back her comments on hunger any longer. She hoped that Nudge could keep her mouth shut for most of the trip back, she just needed quiet right now.

* * *

Fang looked at his watch and sighed, it was closing on midnight, Max had been gone for hours, he was getting worried. What could have happened to them? How far a-field had they gone? What if Erasers had them.

He couldn't help blaming himself for this, if he hadn't been so god-damned stupid then Iggy wouldn't have gone off and Max wouldn't have gone after him. Then again Iggy didn't have to be so dramatic all the time, he used his blindness as an excuse to jus have a strop whenever he felt like it. Oh lord what was he thinking, he couldn't believe he was being so stupid. Max was right, he could hold a grudge.

Finally deciding that he either had two options - bashing his head in with the fridge door, or going out and trying to find the others. Preferring the latter option he got up and walked to the door taking off into the night, hoping that he wasn't too late.

* * *

_A/N: Well I hope you enjoyed reading this chapter as much as I enjoyed writing it. Sometimes writing is so hard and other times it really flows (like this chapter did), I think this is my best chapter of this story so far, I hope I keep my standards up._

_One reviewer pointed out the fact that Fang was rather out of character in the last chapter, I agree one hundred percent, the thing is that I needed an antagonist character and Fang was the best option for that job, he'll redeem himself for everything later trust me._

_Thank you for all the reviews, I do my best to reply to every single one, if I haven't replied to your one then please know that it was a un-intentional I love all you guys!_

_Venice was fun, one reviewer of this story expressed interest in knowing what it was like, check my xanga for the full story (follow the homepage link on my profile) though xanga was incredibly evil yesterday and deleted it, so there's only around one quarter of the entry there, fear not it will be up soon XD._

_Also I have finally finished Maximum Ride (I'm weird with books I spend extra long reading them if I like them and sometimes don't finish them at all). Now I just have to get my hands on the next book. _

_Well to conclude what must be one of the longest authors notes I have ever written, reviews are kept close to the heart, flames are fed to the balrogs and the next update will be soon!_

_- ElvenHope _


	4. Chapter 3

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 3:**

Iggy gulped. "Ari I'm not going to tell you, I can't don't you understand that."

"What if we made it more interesting for you?" Ari asked evilly the grin on his face undeniably cruel. Maybe it was a good thing that Iggy couldn't see it. He had been given this as a last resort if the twerp didn't take the bait and it looked like he was going to have to use it. The whole evening had been going so well, they had found the one they wanted on his own. Though they could get around any of the 'flock' by using other members for blackmail this way they had something extra to use against him and this way they only had to let one of these abominations live.

"There's one thing that makes you different about the other's isn't there, one thing that makes you stand out, makes you weak," Ari smirked, and Iggy blanched going an even whiter shade of pale if it was physically possible. "Do you remember what it was like to see? Do you remember it?"

The tantalizing voice trailed into his mind, the memory of sight coming back to him. Oh yes, he remembered it alright, but he also remembered that the only thing he could ever see was shades of grey. The bars of his dog crate, white walls, white coats, silver instruments and tools.

-o-

_The door of the dog crate was slammed shut, it didn't wake the limp form inside he was still in a drugged sleep. He wouldn't wake for another half hour._

_"I can't believe it went wrong," one white-coat was saying to another as they left the room clipboards in hand. Max pushed herself up against the side of her crate, trying to catch every snippet of the conversation. Iggy had been gone ages, what had happened to him in there?_

_"Apparently it was something wrong with the way we reconstructed the retina, it didn't work as we had planed it would. We shall just have to try again."_

_"We do not have enough subjects yet, too many have been failing to get through their first few months recently."_

_The conversation was lost to her as the scientists left the room closing the door behind them._

_She sighed and looked across at Iggy's crate before glancing to Fang's next to her. She was worried and from the look on Fang's face he felt no better. What had happened? What had gone wrong? What had they done to Iggy?_

_Iggy groaned rolling over, he hurt all over, his head hurt and his eyes were sore. What had those white-coats done to him this time? Why couldn't they just leave him alone for two minutes? They had been picking on him a lot recently. Last time it had been Fang they'd been testing on and the time before that Nudge. At least these people had no plan on killing them otherwise they would just keep on testing one of them until they dropped dead._

_He massaged his aching temples trying to quell the pounding head ache which had started up there. Why did his eyes hurt so much? He raised a hand to rub at one sleepily, it hurt so much… too much. He flicked his eyes open and that was when an invisible weight came crushing down on his chest forcing the air out of him in a shocking blow._

_He waved his hand in front of his eyes then tentatively traced the edge of his open eye-lid._

_"I can't see," he gasped not meaning to speak allowed. He shot up whacking his head on the top of his crate struggling to breathe suddenly. He couldn't see! What had happened? Was he blind?_

_"Iggy what's the matter?" It was Max's concerned voice. He turned to her eyes staring blankly in her direction swivelling in their sockets trying to see._

_"Max?" Iggy's hand reached out, fingers entwining in the thick mesh door._

_"Yeah I'm here Ig," she answered. "What's happened? What have they done?"_

_"I can't see!" the younger child exclaimed his head falling into his upturned palm, instinctively covering his stinging eyes. "I can't see," he whispered he wanted to cry and to be honest he didn't know he could. _

_"What do you mean?" Fang asked unable to comprehend the idea's rushing through his head. "You mean they… they blinded you?"_

_Iggy nodded his throat closing up from the threat of tears. He leaned against the edge of his crate not knowing what to do, not having anything to say._

_It was dark, so dark, there was no light, there never would be any again…_

-o-

"How much would you give to see again hmm Iggy?" Ari hissed into the boy's ear. "Don't you want to see the stars I bet you've never seen them, they're beautiful you know."

"You… you can make it so that I can see again?" Iggy asked tentatively.

"Me? Not me, but some of the scientists back at the school are pretty certain they can, in fact they're positive."

"So I tell you where the others are, and you give me my sight back?" Iggy's voice quavered. Ari could see the boy faltering, he could tell he was getting to him, chipping away slowly at the mind, at some special goal. Iggy would do anything to get his sight back… well nearly anything.

"Exactly," Ari grinned his wolfish smile. "So you feel like telling now?"

Iggy gulped, he couldn't, and yet deep down inside some terribly selfish part of him still wanted to. "No," the reply was not as stubborn as it had been the first time though and Iggy mentally shook himself, he couldn't believe that he was even considering this.

Ari roared in annoyance. It looked like they were going to have to take a trip back to the school anyway despite how much he hated that place. "Fine then you're coming back with us. And one way or another you _will _tell us where your little friends are."

Before he could even think to escape Iggy was being hefted up onto the shoulders of another Eraser, a few sharp jolts to his wing and he slipped into unconsciousness for what was the second time that day.

-o-

"Fang!" Max shouted rounding the corner into the kitchen. "Fang!"

"Do you think he went after us?" Nudge asked looking around in search of the food which was supposed to be there. Though it would be stone cold she had little trouble dealing with that right now. Anything would be better than nothing.

Max flopped down on the sofa putting her head in a pillow and screaming into it slamming her fist against the upholstery before regaining composure. The others stared at her in mute shock and she smiled flicking flaxen locks out of her eyes. She gave them a reassuring smile and stood up straightening out her clothes though inside her mind was still raging. Why did Fang always have to do things like this? _Why why why why? _She desperately needed another pillow to punch. He hadn't even left a note. He could be anywhere.

She rolled her eyes, _boys!_ If it wasn't for them then none of this would have happened in the first place.

"Right," she said her false smile still plastered across her face, she pitied Barbie, the poor doll had this expression for her whole life and it killed her face muscles. "It seems that Fang has gone off to look too so how about we go find him?"

"But-"

"Yes?" Max's eyes swivelled to Nudge who was standing at the corner of the room closest to the kitchen door.

"I'm hungry," Nudge answered looking at her feet. Max couldn't blame Nudge for being hungry, she was too, they hadn't eaten in nearly nine hours and that long flight across the plains had done nothing to help.

"I am too," the Gasman agreed looking at her with pleading eyes.

"Alright, well how about I go look for Fang and you guys see if you can find out where he's hidden the food," -_ if he even made any._

"But what about the Erasers? What if they come here Max?" Angel asked worriedly.

"Then do what we always do in that sort of situation," Max replied already heading for the door.

"Run and don't look back?" Nudge asked from where she still stood in the kitchen doorway.

"Bingo."

-o-

_"Iggy?" Max asked from where she sat pressed up against the bars of her cage. The boy hadn't stopped shaking and it was beginning to worry her. It didn't look like he was crying - though she would have been by now. Then again could you cry if you were blind? She had no idea and she was sure that Iggy didn't know either. It looked like he was in more of a state of shock his back turned to them and his head in his hands his body trembling violently._

_She exchanged a worried glance with Fang she didn't know what to do or how to help, she wished that these bars weren't in the way._

_Angel and the Gasman were still asleep, but Nudge had just woken and was staring wide eyed and confused from Iggy to Max and Fang and then back again._

_"Max…?" the question faded at a warning look from Fang and Nudge just turned back to stare at Iggy totally confused._

_"Iggy what did they do?" Max tried again certain she already knew but still wanting to be sure of the fact. They couldn't have. This was one of the worst things they'd ever done to any of them that she could think of. They had all gained cuts and bruises from their various times in the testing rooms but nothing had ever been permanent. Fang's wrist had healed even after it had been broken nearly a year ago after he refused to run another maze. But this… Iggy might never get his sight back, ever again… The thought made her see red, it was just lucky for those scientists that she was behind bars otherwise half of the school would already be dead._

-o-

Fang couldn't believe this, where could they possibly be, what had happened to all of them? What if they'd been taken to the school? Shaking the thought quickly out of his mind he banked circling uncertain of which direction to turn.Maybe he should just turn back.

He was about to when the sound of a Humvee below him drew his attention to the armoured truck. It was parked, the engine on as dark figures moved quickly and that was when he caught a snatch of white amidst the figures. White feathers, a wing - Iggy!

-o-

_A/N: The chapter breaks wouldn't work for some reason. Hope the flash backs didn't bother you too much, I just kinda had the urge to write them in. Sorry it took so long to update to, I was editing this for ages. Well thanks to all those of you who have reviewed, it means a lot to me._

_Reviews are welcome!_

_ElvenHope_


	5. Chapter 4

**-Blind Faith- **

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 4: **

They didn't have to go far before they found Fang. He literally crashed in through the front door having run straight from coming out of his landing metres from the front door.

"Fang!" Max shouted throwing herself sideways to catch him before he hit the wall.

"Max," the boy breathed trying to regain his ability to speak whilst they stumbled slightly; the force of impact knocking them off balance.

"Where've you been?" Max asked annoyed as she immediately resumed her leader role. She pushed the dark haired boy away from her slightly so that she could see his face. "What's the matter?" She asked worriedly reading his expression. "Did you find Iggy?"

Fang shook his head wordlessly. "They… they took him…" he breathed unable to form a complete sentence. "They took him Max… I couldn't have stopped them…"

"Who took him?" Max asked shaking him trying to get some sense out of the rushed explanation.

Fang paused and looked her in the eye then. His eyes were dark and there was a look in them that Max rarely ever saw there. It frightened her to see him so shaken and afraid.

"Erasers," he whispered trying to keep the conversation between them, though he knew it was impossible. Even if they could keep quiet enough so that Gazzy and Nudge couldn't hear Angel would most certainly be listening in on their conversation.

Max's eyes widened and she unconsciously gripped Fang's arms tighter. With her strength that was probably bruising, but Fang didn't seem to care. "Where…?" She asked though she already knew, she didn't want to say it and that was cowardly of her, but she really didn't care. That name which she knew so well struck fear into even her strong heart.

"The School," Fang said softly. "They've taken him back there, I am certain."

"And you saw him?" Max asked hesitantly. "You definitely saw him?"

Fang nodded words failing him once again.

"Iggy is at the school?" Nudge asked quietly and had the situation been less dire Max might have rolled her eyes. Trust Nudge to speak first and ask such an idiotic question.

The elder girl let go of Fang who stumbled once again before catching a hold of the wall and managing to hold himself upright. The news had shaken them all and Fang had nearly killed himself trying to fly home as quickly as possible.

Max couldn't answer the younger girl one hand coming up to shield her expression from the others whilst she thought the other arm hugging her waist as memories flooded back. What on earth were they going to do? They couldn't go back to the school, could they? Then again what other options did they have? Even so, she couldn't take Nudge or the younger two with them. It was too dangerous for Gazzy and Angel, and the pair needed someone to look after them.

"Max?" It was Nudge again. "What are we going to do?"

"I don't know!" Max shouted punching the wall in anger and annoyance. All of them flinched, including Fang. "I don't know, alright?" When were these guys going to get it? She didn't know everything!

"I'm sorry," Nudge whispered eventually and Max chided herself for snapping like that.

"It's alright Nudge," Max said calmly. "I'm just worried about him, and I don't know what I'm going to do."

"Well we can't just leave him there," Fang said matter-of-factly.

Max brushed some of the hair out of her eyes irritably. "I know."

"So what are we going to do?" The same question from Nudge again. Max felt a little like she should give them all a lecture on how she didn't know everything, but her leader's instinct was kicking in. The only problem was she didn't know how she was going to break it to the younger ones that they'd have to stay put.

* * *

Iggy groaned a hand reaching up to rub his forehead where he had a head ache starting. Pain was the first thing which came to his awareness, he was bruised and sore from his fall earlier and his wing was killing him. Wondering where he was he stretched a hand behind his head where he lay and jumped up as though burned when his fingers touched the cold metal mesh. His head slammed into the ceiling of the dog-crate and he moaned hands coming up to cradle his aching head.

"No no no no…" he whispered as everything came back to him and he realized where he was. This couldn't be happening! A hand reached out again and his fingers coiled tentatively through the mesh feeling its biting cold against his skin. The smells came rushing back to him now, the smell of disinfectant and fear. The sounds of whirring of electronic devices and machines playing at the back of his mind like a terrible mantra he had once known so well.

His hand gripped the cool mesh tighter in fear and panic and he shook the door desperately trying to dislodge it. Nothing happened though; he tried once again fruitlessly and sat back defeated.

He was trapped here! It was a waking nightmare and worst of all he wasn't getting out. The others probably had no idea where he was. No one was going to come to save him. And even if they did know where he was would they really come? Would they really risk their lives to save him? He was a burden, a spare wheel. Why did they need him…?

He let out a shout of rage slamming his hand into the cage door and winced when his knuckles cracked.

"Temper, temper," came a drawling voice from somewhere across the room and Iggy sat bolt upright whacking his head on the ceiling of his dog crate once again.

"Ari," Iggy hissed through gritted teeth. Why didn't he ever have anything better to do? Iggy was annoyed that he hadn't noticed the boy sooner. He had become accustomed to being able to sense other people close to him and it frightened him when he couldn't. He had the ability to paint a mental picture in his mind – and though he had a proper memory of what this place looked like his inability to move about and feel his surroundings put a damper on that.

"It's about time you woke up," Ari said with a sadistic happiness to his voice. Iggy didn't need to see to tell he was giving him a wolfish grin. "You woke up with quite a start though the drugs they gave you are supposed to make you come round slowly. Then again you can't always tell." He heard the other boy moving closer and imagined Ari's leering face pressing up close to his cage door where his voice now came from. "You know what they do to animals when that happens? They shut them in a dark room to let them cool off. Maybe we should do that to you eh? Let you run around in the dark a bit. Get rid of this temper of yours... not that it would really affect you much though. You can't see after all…"

Iggy shook his cage door again viciously. "The second you open this door I'm going to rip your throat out with my bare hands!" The boy snarled his temper rising to boiling point.

Ari stood up and kicked the dog crate in annoyance before whirling back around to point a taser at Iggy's fingers where they wrapped around the metal bars. Iggy couldn't react fast enough before a jolt of electricity shocked up his arm and he cried out in surprise and pain.

"So now that you're here how about you reconsider my offer?" Ari questioned tossing the taser between his hands in a bored fashion. "That is unless you don't want the white coats to get their hands on you. They can restore your sight for you or they can do some horrible things. Your spare parts to them Iggy, you might just want to think about that. They have some big plans for you which might just get all of us Erasers a new upgrade. Robotics… some new cells… you want me to go on…?" The Eraser asked enjoying teasing the other boy.

"So, you gonna to tell us where your little hideout is?" Ari hissed venomously.

"You're wasting your time Ari," Iggy replied calmly. "I won't tell you… why should I?"

"Because I know how you think," Ari replied sharply playing on the other's weaknesses. "I know that all the time you think about how worthless you are. You doubt yourself; you're a freak and worst of all you're a blind freak, just a burden to everyone else. The white coats here can make all that go away… Heck they even know who your real family are! Think about it, don't you want to be normal. And most importantly don't you want to see again?" He let the words hand in the air like bait on a fishing line and Iggy was oh so tempted to take it.

He was about to retort that the other was insane if he thought that he'd ever betray his _real_ family like that when he heard one of the doors open.

"Any luck?" There was a cold voice then, a strictly matter-of-fact man's voice and Iggy instinctively moved away from the front of his cage. Ari must have shaken his head for there was no reply and a sigh was issued from the white coat who had just entered. "Always have to make it difficult for us eh, Iggy?" The white coat said sounding as though he were talking to a pet rather than a human - and a rather unloved pet at that.

Iggy felt sick as he pressed himself against the back of the cage. The white coat's footsteps were drawing closer to his crate and he had distinct memories of some of the terrible things which might happen next. He heard his cage door open and there was yet another exasperated sigh.

"Come on Iggy, just come here and there won't be any trouble," the white coat said feigning kindness as he stretched a hand out into the cage. "We just need a blood sample for now that's it."

Iggy felt like laughing. _That's it…_ that was a big fat lie right there… This was one of the worst parts of captivity. The delirium which came with the lack of blood, the pills and substances being forced down his gullet and a number of other things he didn't care to think about. It a nightmare which soon he would be unable to wake from and it was the worst nightmare imaginable.

He kicked out and realised that it was a mistake moments later when the white coat caught his foot and half dragged him from the box. Iggy lashed out with his free leg loosing the man's grip and jumping up wishing once again that he wasn't blind. It really would make things so much easier. He couldn't stay still though and raced for where he thought the door was.

Iggy didn't make it very far though. Ari – he was certain it was Ari because of his height – grabbed his right wing and Iggy's knees buckled spots dancing behind his blind eyes. Seconds later the taser was jabbed roughly between his shoulder blades and his body convulsed as the electricity raced through him. The Eraser let go then and Iggy crumpled to the floor twitching slightly as his muscles rode out the aftermath of the electric shock.

The echoing clack of the white coats shoes on the plastic tiled floor moved towards him and Iggy desperately wished that he could run. The man bent down and jabbed a needle into his arm carefully pulling the plunger on the syringe back.

Iggy let out a grunt and tried weakly to pull away, but the man held him still and the blond haired boy saw no choice other than to cooperate.

"There now that wasn't so bad," the man admonished gently lifting Iggy and pushing him back into his crate. The boy hated this false kindness. It made him feel sick, though to be honest he wasn't sure whether that was just from loss of blood. He had always been one to feel faint after they had taken a sample. Max, Fang and Nudge were fairly resilient to it; it had been him Gazzy and Angel who had suffered the most from the weekly analyzations.

Nudge had told him that it was nothing to do with him and just something which affected all people differently for some reason or another. Still, he couldn't help but feel that it was another weakness he could add to the list. He heard his cage door shut and made no attempt to try and stop them. He knew that he should, he should fight, because it was weak not to, but he was already giving up. He was going to die here… after everything which had happened, and all hope was slipping beyond his grasp.

* * *

_A/N: I really do apologise for not writing more. I have had really bad writers block for around half a year and have only just broken through it. I had completely forgotten this story when a reviewer asked me to continue and I'm glad I did! Thanks for giving me a kick, I always need one to get going again. People seem concerned about the pairings so I shall say that it's not really going to come into it much. Since this is post TAE and I'm one for staying in canon there won't be much lovey-dovy stuff, maybe a few hints, but it'll still be Max/Fang because that's canon... all I can promise you is heaps of angst :)_

_-ElvenHope_


	6. Chapter 5

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 5:**

"Alright," Max said deciding on their plan of action immediately and walking back into the kitchen to gather some supplies. "Fang, you come with me. Nudge, Angel and Gazzy stay here and if anyone comes hide."

"What?" Nudge and Fang exclaimed at exactly the same time.

"You can't not let us come!" Nudge half shouted an indignant expression crossing her face. "We're just as worried about Iggy as you are!"

Max turned around calmly and knelt down so that she was looking up at Nudge. She could tell that the girl was mad; to be honest she would be too. "I know you are," she said softly trying to make her voice as calm and understanding as possible though her blood thrummed with the urgency to _go!_

"It's just that you're too young-"

"So are you."

Max's head snapped round when Fang spoke and she narrowed his eyes at him. "You do know that you're undermining my whole argument right now?"

"I don't care," Fang replied his tone unwavering as his dark eyes stared into Max's quizzical ones. "I'll go, by myself."

"But-but you're younger than me!" Max felt stupid for putting up such a lame argument, but that was all she could think to say and it slipped from her lips before she could stop it.

"We don't even know how old we are!" Fang pointed out as Max stood up Nudge and the others forgotten for the moment.

"So what are you going to do? Just storm in there all guns blazing? Take down a dozen Erasers single handily?" Max asked folding her arms and raising an eyebrow. Fang had to be kidding. She didn't think that even two of them together could do it, but Fang all on his own…?

"I started this mess and it's my job to take care of it," Fang stated calmly once again piercing Max with his dark gaze.

"But-"

"They need you," Fang pointed out looking at the younger ones. "I know that it probably won't work, but they can't afford do loose both of us."

"Oh so now you're being kamikaze," Max said sarcastically. "What good will that achieve?"

"I don't know," Fang sighed resting against the wall. "I really don't Max, but maybe I could just go have a look… see how dangerous it is."

"And if it's too dangerous?" Max asked and the question hung in the air horribly for a few seconds. She hadn't realized the implications of what she was saying until the words slipped out and now she wished that she hadn't even thought them. They didn't really have a choice. Even if it meant that they all got killed they didn't have a choice.

"We're not just leaving him there," Fang replied his gaze steely.

"I know that's not what I mean." She looked at Fang and saw the determination in his eyes. She rolled her eyes then, she was going to give in and she hated it. "Alright, you can go – but only to have a look around. And I want to have a way to contact you. Don't we have walkie-talkies or something?"

"Iggy has some," Gazzy said quietly.

Max looked down at the boy and saw that he was on the verge of tears. Gazzy would loose his best friend if they lost Iggy; but worst of all they'd all loose a brother. They were family no matter what and it was strange to have someone missing. Would they ever work without their pyromaniac/mad-scientist?

"Okay why don't you guys go have a look around his room for them?" She said in her sweetest everything's-going-to-be-okay voice. Deep inside though she had a terrible feeling weighing down on her heart; how could anything ever be fine ever again?

She turned away from Fang then, heading for the kitchen and leaving the boy alone. It all felt weird. A sort of numbness was creeping over her. Iggy was gone and the chance of them ever saving him was a million to one. No matter how many time Max thought about it she really couldn't believe it. Fang was the only one who had seen them take Iggy and Max couldn't imagine the sight. She couldn't imagine it because her subconscious was desperately trying to block out any mental images. Half of her really _needed_ to see it though. She needed to know for certain that he was gone otherwise she couldn't quite believe it. It was like being in a dream world; everything was slowing down until time came to a complete stop, though really everything was happening faster than they could comprehend. She needed to stop and think and get it fixed into her mind what exactly had happened and yet no matter how hard she tried she couldn't.

Wandering into the kitchen she started preparing food that Fang might need. She really couldn't believe that she was going to let him do this. Maybe she needed to step back from the leader role for once though. It was causing so much strain on her mental state; she'd get a peptic ulcer soon if she wasn't careful!

"Need some help?" Fang's voice came softly from over her shoulder causing her to start.

"Would you quit doing that!" She yelled in surprise nearly dropping the glass she had been holding in an attempt to clear the kitchen counter so she could actually find something edible.

Fang raised an eyebrow and looked at her quizzically. "Doing what?"

"Creeping up on me… it's creepy!" Max replied sharply hating Fang's ability to make her jump out of her skin. She set the glass down before she actually dropped it and turned to face him, her gaze softening. "Do you really want to do this? You could get killed… I should come with you-"

"I'll be fine," Fang replied quietly his eyes troubled though his face was oddly emotionless. "You should stay here… they're going to need you," he looked her in the eyes and swallowed down a lump in his throat. "They need you more than they need me."

Max bit her lip nervously tears coming to her eyes as she desperately tried to blink them back. They had already lost one family member, could they really afford to loose Fang as well? She wouldn't have anyone to talk to. She loved the younger ones so much, but they couldn't understand it all like Iggy and Fang could. They had been at the School together four years before even Nudge was born, Gazzy and Angel could barely remember most of their time there – though it was a hard thing to forget. "But what if you don't come back? I can't handle them on my own you know that."

"You'll do just fine with them, you're Max the invincible remember," Fang said trying to smile.

Max punched him on the arm and turned away annoyed with herself for not being able to control her emotions. What was happening to her! She was turning into some mushy wreck and she didn't like it. She really did wish that she was Max the invincible sometimes; it would solve a lot of problems.

"You know I'm not," she replied giving him a watery smile over her shoulder before turning back to what she was doing. "You won't do anything stupid will you?" She asked knowing that Fang was the type for making snap decisions. Normally he did think things through there were times when he acted on impulse. Max knew that if she saw something happening to Iggy then she wouldn't have been able to stop herself from racing in and trying to stop it. Fang needed to know where the other boy was being kept otherwise it would be pointless in him risking his neck. Would he really be able to leave once he found him?

"I promise," Fang replied quietly. "I'll finish this, why don't you go and check on the others?"

Max nodded and left the room making her way rather apprehensively to Iggy's room. She really didn't know how the younger ones would be coping with this revelation and she didn't know if she could deal with them at the moment.

"Guys?" She asked peering round the door only to find that she had been right. Gazzy was sitting on Iggy's bed crying with Nudge desperately trying to comfort him though she wasn't fairing much better than he was. Angel was sitting on the floor a blank expression on her face. Angel worried Max a little more than the other two did. Tears were normal and what she would expect, Angel's reaction was a little frightening if she was perfectly honest with herself.

"Hey hey," Max said softly sitting down on Gazzy's other side and wrapping an arm around him. "It's alright, sshh now, c'mon Gaz everything's going to be fine."

"No it won't," Gazzy sniffed clutching something to his chest which Max hadn't noticed until now. It was a teddy bare – one Iggy had given the younger boy when he grew out of it.

"So did you find the walkie talkies?" Max asked trying to change the subject. She didn't think that they'd actually work over that sort of a distance. Plus a super-top-secret place like the school probably had some sort of ability to scramble signals or pick up on them. She hadn't a clue, but she knew that she'd much prefer it if they sent Fang off with a cell phone instead.

"Yeah," Nudge replied picking them up off Iggy's bedside table where she had put them.

They looked impressive, real heavy duty ones police officers might have; durable and hopefully with a large enough range for them to stay in contact. She still wished that she knew how long they would last though… and how much juice they had left in them. She twiddled one of the knobs and heard it crackle. Well at least it had some power for now. She quickly turned it off and went back to Iggy's wardrobe to see if there was any other useful item in there. Like a gas bomb or something. Her search was pretty much in vain, there was something which looked like a half constructed explosive and it stank of some metallic substance or another. She would have to lecture Iggy about that, as well as the fact that his room was a complete pig sty.

She cracked then. Sitting back on her heals in front of the wardrobe the tears spilled over. Standing up quickly she half stumbled half walked out of the room trying to seem calm though she couldn't quite get a hold of herself.

_Snap out of it Max! _She told herself irritably racing into the bathroom and shutting the door locking it quickly. She leaned back against it and slid to the floor her head in her hands. She just wanted to fly away right now, but common sense told her that she couldn't. Common sense also told her to move away from the door and she did so quickly, going to the mirror to check how bad she looked. Her eyes were blood shot and puffy and there were large rings under them. _Great just great!_

Everything was falling down around them. _Get a grip for god's sake!_ She slammed her fist into the wall and felt blood on her knuckles. She hissed, going to the sink to run the broken skin under some cold water.

"Max?" It was Fang. There was a light knock on the door. "Are you alright?"

"Fine," Max said her voice rather strained. "I'm fine Fang I just need a minute."

"Alright well I'm just going to head off then," Fang said matter-of-factly from the other side of the door.

"What!" Max yelled tearing across the room and wrenching the door open only to run straight into Fang and send them both flying.

"Whoa!" Fang shouted all too late as they landed in a heap on the floor. "Well that did the trick," he grinned. Actually grinned – that was rare for Fang – she might have commented on it, but she was busy working out the implications of what Fang had just said.

"What?!" She yelled picking herself up. "You-You mean you only said that to get me to come out!"

"Well it worked didn't it?" Fang asked picking himself up and dusting off his jeans.

Max threw him a death glare though it was ruined by her puffy read eyes. She swiped her sleeve across them irritably.

"The others are in a bit of a state," Max said lamely.

"I'll go make food," Fang said stonily and turned without saying anything else.

"You'll go make food," Max asked confused. "Do you even know how to make food."

"Well you could help me," Fang replied and when she started to follow him he turned around. "But they need you more."

Max nodded in understanding and turned back to the other room feeling their safe calm life slowly falling down around them.

_

* * *

A/N: Okay so no Iggy in this chapter it was tough for me to leave him out, but I didn't want to just be repeating myself with the parts with him in - if that makes sense... I mean I can't do all that much yet. So the next chapter will probably have Iggy in it anyway, I can't resist not writing something about him for very long. Oh yes, and I meant to say that my earlier take on Ari is a little different to how I would be writing him now after finishing both books. Fact is that now that I have I still prefer the way I was writing him before. So I apologise if he seems a little AU. Oh and I named my cat Iggy :P Which is why it's a little weird writing this sometimes XD Just thought I'd share that with you._

-ElvenHope


	7. Chapter 6

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 6:**

Iggy's thin fingers spread out across the cool surface of the table nervously as he tried to get a proper image of his surroundings, his other hand hugging his waist. He didn't know where he was, he had been led down a maze of corridors by white coats, noises from all about the school fraying through his consciousness as his mind tried to devise some way to escape. Now he was sitting across from one of the white coats at a desk, but apart from that he knew very little of the room around him. He could guess that it was relatively small from the way echoes bounced off the walls, but the School was different to normal places.

"How many fingers am I holding up?" The white coat across from him asked and Iggy's fingers instinctively curled back in to his hand as his muscles tensed.

"I'm blind you idiot!" He snarled back at the man deciding not to cooperate. After all why should he? He was bruised from his encounter with Ari… when was it? A day ago… a few hours...? Iggy really had no clue and that was simply adding to the feeling of insanity the School radiated. They couldn't kill him though, if they wanted to they would have done so already and he really didn't care about a few more scars at the moment.

He heard the white coat purse his lips and clasp his hands in front of him. "I was merely checking-"

"Why would I lie about something like this? Don't you have any records of your little experiments? _You_ blinded me nearly six years ago now during one of your insane experiments!" Iggy was in truth terrified of what else might happen to him whilst he was here. Had Ari really been telling the truth when he had spoken of robotics? Iggy honestly did not want to find out. He could remember the choking terror of waking up and being unable to see, he could remember stumbling blindly about mazes and rooms when he had been dragged from his crate to see if his vision would return. He pushed it all to the back of his mind, knowing that thinking on that now would only make the situation worse.

"We are deeply sorry for what happened to you Iggy which is why we are willing to make a deal with you," the man across from him spoke slowly and carefully. "We believe that it is possible to restore your sight for you, don't you want that?"

"Of course I do," Iggy replied. "But you want me to betray the only family I've ever had!"

"We can find your _real_ family for you Iggy, wouldn't you like that? To go back and live with them like a normal child?" The white coat asked his voice loosing some of its patience already.

"I can't ever be normal; you took that away from me when you turned me into a mutant freak!" Iggy yelled and stood up, not knowing why, but feeling the need to escape. A panicked terror streaked through him and he headed in the direction of where the door had been bashing in to things in a rather hopeless attempt to escape. He tried the handle and found that it was locked. Dismayed he bashed hard against the wood and turned around quickly when the man approached him.

"Just get away from me and leave me alone!" Iggy shouted angrily though there was a tremor in his voice which he couldn't hide. "I never want to be part of any of your experiments again and I most certainly will not help you whatever the cost!"

He heard the man approaching and lashed out catching him only a few times before he was pinned against the wall. He felt the prick of a needle as it pierced his skin and remembered how the School dealt with rebellion. He wondered what he had just been injected with as he felt the tension ease from his body and knew that it must have been a sedative of some form, though the dosage hadn't been all that strong. His mind drifted as though he could no longer retain a thought and he didn't realise that he had been taken back to the room with his crate in it until he heard the familiar sound of the door opening.

He tried to fight once again, though the attempt was futile and yet another injection made him go weak at the knees, his mind clawing at the edges of consciousness. He was shoved back into his crate and he hissed as his wing was jolted the pain sending a flash of white through his mind.

"Oh yes we must get that seen to," the white coat said to himself as he realised that Iggy still had a problem with his wing. "Once the sedatives wear of we'll have someone come and have a look at if for you, how does that sound?" The man asked as he bolted the door and stood up leaving Iggy lying listlessly on the floor of his crate.

His mind wandered aimlessly, as he found that he slowly lost the ability to grasp at anything. Thoughts fragmented in his head, shattering before he had the chance to even decipher them, and sounds brushed against the back of his mind. Memories rose unbidden, taunted back into existence by the smell of the place and the sounds. Those were just as hard to grasp, but that seemed to be what made them all the more terrifying. A haze of fear and confusion dwelled inside his clouded awareness and he could not piece it all together. He jerked restlessly in this daze of semi-consciousness, his eyes flickering open and shut, pupils roving, though it made no real difference to him.

Footsteps echoed disjointedly throughout the room and he heard a voice, though for all he knew the speaker was not talking in English. Finally he did drift into a deeper delirium, but he was haunted by warped phantoms and the feeling of a half-waking sleep.

When he did wake properly, the first realization that came to him was that his throat was dry. That thought was soon removed from his mind when he rolled over retching up the contents of his stomach onto the floor of his crate. Moaning he scooted backwards and coughed a couple of times to clear his throat. His head was pounding and though he must have been asleep for a good few hours he did not feel any better for it.

"Ugh you really are no better than an animal are you," Ari sneered from somewhere in the room, though Iggy's befuddled mind was having difficulty figuring out exactly where.

"Leave me alone," Iggy groaned cradling his aching head in his hands.

"Charming, and I was going to offer to find someone to clean up that mess of yours," Ari leered he bent down to look through the dog crate door at Iggy and squinted. "Are you crying?"

"What?" Iggy asked confused swiping at his eyes and feeling the damp patches on his cheeks. "It wasn't me it's that stuff the white-coat gave me."

"You were talking in your sleep you know," Ari grinned and Iggy didn't like where this was going. "Practically begging for help…" the Eraser taunted and watched as Iggy's head sunk back into his hands.

"I said leave me alone," Iggy hissed and then he felt his stomach churning again. He moaned one hand clutching at his head, the other wrapped around his waist as he rocked back and forth ever so slightly to try and still the pain. It wasn't working though and a moment later he vomited again bringing up acid and bile.

Ari stuck out his tongue an expression of disgust clear on his face. "God that's gross!"

"Shut up!" Iggy snapped. "Either get someone to help or go find something else to entertain yourself."

"I can't you see I've got things I'm supposed to be doing," Ari replied studying his fingernails with mock interest though the action was lost on Iggy.

"Like what?" Iggy asked irritably one hand suddenly clamping over his mouth to stop himself from retching.

"Like interrogating you," Ari replied smoothly watching for the other boy's reaction. There wasn't much of one, Iggy seemed too preoccupied at that moment and rolling his eyes Ari sighed standing up. He liked tormenting people and as much as he enjoyed seeing his captive looking miserable it would get him nowhere. He had made a promise to his father; his father had trusted him to complete this task and he intended to do so. Soon his dad would see the brilliance that he held inside him, he would be noticed. Everything was going to plan. He heard Iggy groan again… _Well nearly everything_. He just needed the stupid bird-boy to crack and he wasn't entirely sure how long that would take.

"I'll find someone to get you cleaned up and have a look at your wing," Ari replied lethargically. "And then I think we need to have a little chat."

"Bite me," Iggy grumbled knowing that Ari was trying to bate him, and not caring all that much either. The pounding in his head wasn't letting him think straight at the moment.

Ari actually contemplated morphing and going back to do just as Iggy had said, but decided against it. He didn't want Iggy all bashed up yet. This was going to have to be a slow process and it had taken Ari a lot of careful planning to get to this point. And besides he did need the boy alive and looking well enough to fool Max and the rest of the flock.

* * *

It was the most horrible meal Max had ever experienced in her life. Not because of the cooking. Fang had actually – surprisingly – done a good job of the meal. She just wished that she could take the time to properly enjoy it. There was silence, which was so completely rare here that Max found it disturbing. Normally she prayed for just a little bit of peace and quiet, now she wished for anything but. Gazzy, Angel and Nudge were oddly subdued, and Fang was continuously glancing between them before looking over to Max quizzically. She felt like whacking him. He was once again looking to her for all the answers. 

Nudge raised her head, looked as though she were about to speak and then dropped her eyes once again. Next to her Gazzy pushed his food around his plate, the faint chinking of cutlery the only sound to break through the suffocating silence.

Finally Fang put down his fork gently, trying not to disturb the alien quiet and looked at them all. "Hey guys perk up; everything's going to be alright."

Angel just looked at him blankly, Nudge picked at the hem of her shirt and Gazzy threw his fork down with a clatter.

"It won't be alright and you know it!" the boy shouted and Max felt her stomach sink. She had known that this was coming. You could bring a whole gaggle of cheerleaders in here and it still wouldn't make these guys peppy. Then again it wouldn't make her peppy either… it would make her want to vomit.

"Gaz-" Max tried, but she was cut off.

"It's not fair, it's just not fair! They've done enough to us already, why can't they just leave us alone?" he asked confusion and hurt in his eyes.

Max sighed elbows rested on the table her forehead pressed into her entwined hands. How could she explain hurt and pain to a child? They had all been through a lot of it… but how could she start to explain that life wasn't fair? That you didn't simply get a share of bad luck; that something always happened to screw everything up.

"It'll be fine, Fang's-"

Now it was Nudge's turn to but in. "I think it's stupid," she looked up then and fixed them both with her deep brown eyes. "You two should go; I can look after Angel and Gazzy."

"Why can't I come?" Gaz whined his eyes swimming with tears.

"If Gaz goes I'm coming too!" Angel piped up and Max had to resist the urge to put her hands over her ears.

"Guys, guys!" She had to repeat the word to get everyone's attention. "I am not risking more than I have to. Nudge as much as I know you are responsible the Erasers are close now, and they're too strong for just you three on your own. So that is why I am staying and Fang is going even though he won't be able to do anything for now." She turned to him then fixed him with an unwavering stare. "You won't do anything stupid will you?"

Fang shook his head shaggy black hair falling into his eyes. "I wouldn't ever do anything to endanger you guys," he replied already feeling the guilt weighing down on him. If he hadn't argued with Iggy in the first place then none of this would have happened.

Max seemed satisfied with his answer for she looked away, seeming subdued. "Alright then, I suppose if you're all done you guys should get ready for bed."

"But-"

"I don't-"

"Max!"

"No," Max snapped authority clear in her voice. "Bed, unless you want to finish your food. I'll come and see you in a minute."

Nudge left the table knowing that she couldn't eat anymore and not having the strength to argue at that moment. Angel followed suite and Gazzy looked as though he were going to kick up a fuss again, but he followed when Angel caught his hand.

Max turned back to Fang her eyes worried. "You really won't do anything stupid will you?"

"I said I wouldn't, didn't I?" Fang snapped voice sharper than he had intended. He felt a stab of regret when a flicker of hurt glimmered in Max's eyes. He was just so tired and so anxious to go. He really didn't think that he could wait until tomorrow.

"How long do you think it'll take?"

"A few days… a week I really don't know," Fang replied standing up with his plate and taking it to the sink. Anything to get away from Max's penetrating stare. "I won't be able to get all that close… I mean I am only going to check the place out," he sighed running a hand through his hair. "Maybe Nudge is right… maybe you should come… maybe-"

"What?" Max asked seeing the confusion in his stance, reading the hesitation in his voice.

He turned back to her after setting his plate down in the sink. "Maybe you _should_ come with me. I can't think up plans on the spot like you can. It seems like such a waste of time to only be going there to investigate. What will I find that we don't already know?"

Max shook her head. "I don't know but we have to try something. I just hope that Iggy can hang on…" her thoughts were thrust back to that day, nearly six years ago now when Iggy had lost his sight. Her mind slipped through memory recalling all the torments of the School. Could she really send Fang back there? And could they really save Iggy from that place?

"He's tough," Fang said quietly. "And I'll fly as fast as I can. Somehow everything's got to be alright eventually."

Max nodded. "Yeah, eventually."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update. I just didn't seem to have enough time to both write and update this chapter. Well it's longer than normal so I hope that weighs it out :) Thanks for all the reviews :)_

_-ElvenHope_


	8. Chapter 7

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 7**

Iggy hissed as the white coat wrenched his right wing out straight trying to stop the instinctive reflex to pull it back in. There was no point in fighting now. He needed help with this unless he wanted his wing to heal wrong. He wasn't about to loose his ability to fly on top of everything else. He clenched a fist, nails digging into his palm as the woman poked at the wound close to his shoulder before inspecting the bloodied patch on his bare back.

"So you were shot?" she asked slowly as she jerked his wing down slightly. Normally she didn't talk to experiments at all. Being a trained vet she was used to not getting answers to her questions, but by god did it speed up the process.

Iggy gasped and nodded his eyes snapping shut in the sudden moment of pain.

"Where?"

Iggy bit back a retort and complied instead. "My wing, I think the bullet went into my shoulder blade."

"The bullet has already been removed," she informed him and Iggy blinked.

"W-when?" he couldn't help asking. Wouldn't he have known?

"When you were being brought here," she replied he heard her lift some metal instrument from a tray next to the table he perched on. "You would have bled to death otherwise. You were out cold for nearly three days. The wound was only small, and thanks to your enhanced genetics you healed quickly."

"And they couldn't have healed my wing then too?" he asked still quizzically.

"I'm a specialist in birds of prey, and their anatomy. Erasers are trained to look after your average bullet wound," she felt him stiffen at the mention of Erasers and she could understand why. They did frighten her a little more than she'd like to admit.

The woman looked at the experiment's confused expression and tried to keep her detached feeling she always had around here. The children here, the mutants whatever you wanted to call them, were only experiments to her. Nothing more than some new scientific break-through, if she had been allowed to keep the cold tone and ways of handling them she would have been fine, but she had been given instructions to be 'nice' to this one and she was finding it difficult. She wanted to know why. She hated it when the bosses decided on some new plan without telling everyone.

"You're one of the ones who escaped aren't you?" she asked quietly unable to keep the intrigue out of her voice. It was amazing that these children had even learned to talk… escaping from here was nearly impossible, but somehow six of their earlier experiments had managed to get out.

Iggy fidgeted on the table wondering why she was asking him. No one – apart from Ari - ever asked him questions here… save for only very occasionally. They had only once been asked to say something about how they felt when they were small. He wasn't sure why the white coats had bothered with that. Then again he didn't know why someone had decided to stick wings on them either.

"Yeah," he answered softly.

"So what did you do?" she asked folding his wing back in and then stretching it out again causing Iggy to grunt and bite his bottom lip.

"What's it to you?" he asked his tone sharp suddenly. If this was just another trick to get him to tell them where the flock were then he was going to stay silent.

The woman tucked some of her dyed red hair behind her ear and pressed her lips together. "I was just curious," she replied dabbing at the wound where the bullet had clipped Iggy's wing with disinfectant. "Hold still," she chided when Iggy squirmed.

The boy tried to do as he was told and gripped the table top with white knuckled hands, knowing that he would only be making it worse for himself.

"Well I won't tell you," Iggy bit out around the sharp jolts of pain in his shoulder and wing. "I won't tell any of you anything about them!"

"Alright, calm down," the woman chastised peering at the cut as she tried to part Iggy's mottled grey feathers to get a good look at the wound. "I think you're going to need stitches."

He tensed at the thought, he didn't like having stitches. Once the white-coat operating on him hadn't waited for the anaesthetic to work properly and it had hurt like hell. Fortunately for him every other time it had worked, though it had still stung a little afterwards and the feeling… trying not to flinch away from the needle was almost impossible for him. He, along with the rest of the flock, was incredibly wary of needles and they evoked an almost instinctive fear in him which had been born the first time he had had a blood test.

The woman moved over to the other side of the room, Iggy heard her heels clack against the plastic tiled floor; and then a cupboard opened. She returned quickly grabbing him rather roughly and injected the anaesthetic into the area around his wing before he even had a chance to struggle.

"Alright now just hold still and let me work," she said stretching Iggy's wing out once again.

It was nearly impossible for him to stay still; he did try his best, but to no avail. He fidgeted and squirmed, hissing until she smacked him across the back of the head and threatened to bring someone in to hold him still. He wasn't trying to be disobedient. He was doing his very best not to show any emotion, but the numbing effect made his skin tingle with painful pins and needles and holding his wing out straight aggravated his injury.

"Done," she announced and Iggy sighed gingerly drawing his wing back in and folding it gently over the stitches. His hand stretched out across the table moving lightly across the surface until he found his shirt, he quickly pulled it back on.

He was yanked down from the table as he heard the door open; his spine tingled and he knew immediately that Erasers had just entered the room. He had been expecting that, he was guarded by them everywhere and it was next to impossible for him to find a time when there was only one of them watching him. He'd make a break for it soon; he _had_ to try after all. He couldn't just sit here, but he knew that there was no chance he was going to get a few feet, let alone to any form of exit.

"Did it behave for you?" It was Ari's voice – as Iggy expected – coming from his left where the Eraser flanked him as the woman left the room. Iggy's hands balled into fists, he was not an 'it' any more than Ari was.

She glanced at him for a moment saw the cold expression on the boy's face and the steely determination in his blind eyes.

"Fine," she replied quickly. "It didn't give me any trouble, I wouldn't recommend testing its flight until that wound is properly healed."

"We'll make sure to pass that message on," another Eraser agreed, his voice just as smooth as Ari's.

Iggy stood there in subdued silence, Ari's hand was clamped on his forearm to prevent any attempts at escape. He felt incredibly awkward; he didn't know why he was cooperating. Maybe he should just refuse to move and make them drag him back to his dog-crate. The thought was mildly appealing, but he didn't. Partly because he really did not want to evoke Ari's wrath right now and also because he saw no point in it. It would earn him a few bruises and give Ari a reason to beat him to a pulp, but apart from that nothing would be gained from it. Maybe that was why he felt so uncomfortable. He _felt_ like he should be doing something, rebelling in some way, but he didn't know what and he didn't know how it would help.

With a nod to the scientist Ari turned Iggy about and led him back down the hallway irked by the other boy's silence.

"So you're being good for us are you?" he asked, his voice a low growl as he tried to keep the conversation between him and Iggy; not that he cared whether the other Eraser listened or not.

"Why does it matter so much to you?" Iggy replied dryly. "Want an excuse to beat the living tar out of me?"

"It does make my life a little more interesting," Ari replied silkily. "But no actually, don't you remember the fuss you lot would kick up when we simply tried to let you out of your crates to stretch your legs."

Iggy wondered how Ari could possibly know this; back then Erasers had been to their knowledge non-existent. Surely Ari hadn't been around then; but there had been at least one security camera in their room so it was likely that Ari had watched them. He'd done his homework then.

"If that's what you want to call it," Iggy snarled the hairs on the back of his neck prickling.

"All the same it seems that you're a little… shall we say resigned?" Ari studied Iggy's expression carefully watching for anything he could use against the other. "So if you're so decided on your fate couldn't you simply help me? You don't understand what this means to me Iggy; I get my life back, and so do you. It's perfect!"

"I can't betray them-"

"Like they wouldn't trade you in a second," Ari grinned seeing something akin to fear flash across the other's face. "Think about it, Ig you're blind, you're just a complete waste of space. I know what they've said about you when you're not there. I've heard it with my very own ears. This whole place is filled with cameras, and it was before you left. I know what they really think about you. I know what Jeb thought about you too. They all wanted to leave you behind, every last one-"

"Shut up!" Iggy shouted suddenly, slamming Ari into the wall. He didn't care whether Ari's argument made sense or not. A white hot rage had flooded him, coupled with a hidden fear which had been growing inside of him since the day he had been blinded. He lashed out furiously at the other. Catching Ari across the face he broke the Eraser's grip on his arm and ran for it. Though a part of him wanted to stay and make Ari take his words back escape was his top priority right now, even in a haze of anger.

The feeling gave him speed; he flung himself through doors, ears straining to hear every movement hands in front of him as he stumbled blindly through the maze that was the School. If only he could see! He might stand a chance if he could just see! Slamming through a set of double doors he felt the room open out suddenly. Inside or out he didn't care, he spread his wings and with a powerful stroke took off.

The stitches ripped and he felt blood ooze out across his shoulder. He swerved, the pain catching him by surprise though he managed to level out. The anaesthetic was already beginning to ware off, but it was helping at the moment, he knew that the pain would have been nearly impossible to bear without it.

He hit the ceiling some thirty foot up and swore loudly. He remembered the room; it was large, spacious enough room for a bird kid to fly in easily. They hadn't actually learnt to fly until Jeb had taken them out of the School. The white-coats had attempted to get them to fly, unsuccessfully and had soon returned to other experiments.

Despair swept over him and Iggy let himself drop, wings breaking too late he crashed to his knees.

"No!" he yelled bashing a fist against the floor. If only he could see he would have escaped. If only he wasn't so useless. "No! No!" In that instant he couldn't stop the tears which stung the edges of his eyes. He didn't care, he didn't care anymore! He was going to die here, some broken toy to these scientists, nothing more than an experiment gone wrong. He punched the floor again, blinked back the tears as all the emotions he had been trying to keep back consumed him.

His shouts turned to broken sobs, his aching fingers curling into fists, pulling into his chest as he rocked back and forth, hunched over his knees. He looked like some sort of fallen angel his wings - still spread out - hung limply behind him, pale feathers trailing over his bare feet and his blond bangs hanging in his eyes.

"No," this time the word was a fragmented whisper, his eyes squeezed shut to try and hold back the tears.

If Ari had never been classed as a sadist, he was now. A thrill went up his spine as he saw the state the other was in, a smile spreading across his face. This was the first crack in the glass, the first step to a complete break down. When that happened it wouldn't take long for him to manipulate Iggy. The boy would be a puppet in his hands.

The second Eraser was followed by another two, as well as three very alarmed looking scientists. They all stopped in their tracks too stunned to move as Ari approached the boy a wolfish grin curling his lips maliciously.

"Well, well, well," he smirked, his serene voice full of loathing. He aimed a downward punch at the other's cheek, the force of the blow splitting skin and sending the blond sprawling onto his side.

The coppery tang of blood filled Iggy's mouth, he moaned brokenly making a tentative attempt to get back up, only to be knocked back down by another harsh blow.

Ari looked up satisfied that his captive would stay still; he wouldn't be surprised if the boy had a minor concussion. It served him right; Iggy could throw a good punch if his aim was true. The Eraser ran his thumb across his split lip wiping away the blood which had bloomed there, stark scarlet against pale pink.

"I think it needs to be kept on something until it calms down a bit," Ari glanced back at Iggy where he lay panting on the floor, chest rising and falling raggedly. He addressed the scientists who seemed to have recovered and were making their way towards him. "I don't suppose you have anything?"

Iggy lay with his cheek pressed against the cool plastic floor, his body limp as he waited for what was to come. Delirium not doubt, followed by more taunts from Ari, a blood test, another experiment... What did it matter anymore? They had taken everything from him and left him nameless and empty with only the occasional scrap of food to look forward to. He was meaningless, just another experiment… that was the only reason he was here. The only reason he was alive! And he had always thought that it had all been about so much more.

One of the white-coats left the room, returned again with a syringe and held it out to Ari. The Eraser took it glancing at it quickly before tangling a hand in Iggy's hair and yanking him up. The boy gasped struggling to support himself as Ari let go of his hair and gripped Iggy's arm forcefully; holding him still.

"What is this anyway?" he asked glancing at the white-coat as he tried to find a vein.

"Ketamine," one replied quickly and Ari smiled, this would be fun. Iggy was in for the hell of a time when he woke up. The Eraser forgot about finding a vein and instead injected it into a muscle knowing it would have the most effect there.

Iggy tried to pull his arm away, jerking it suddenly out of the Erasers grip which had become lax when he thought that Iggy wasn't going to fight him.

Ari back-handed the boy, smacking painfully across the purpled bruise on Iggy's right cheek. "Don't even think about it bird-boy or I'll knock you out myself," he snarled in Iggy's ear.

Iggy gritted his teeth choking back all the fowl things he wanted to call the Eraser right now.

"Good," Ari smiled taking Iggy's arm and jabbing the needle into his skin.

Seeing little other choice Iggy held still cursing Ari and everyone else in the room at that moment. Ari stood up when he had finished handed the syringe to the white-coat. Iggy shook trying to keep his heart beat under control as it sped up and his face flushed a deep scarlet. What was happening to him? He felt weird… and he wasn't liking it!

"What-what the hell did you do to me?" he bit out hands balling into fists. He really did know what Ari had done to him, but he couldn't think of anything else to say. His fingers tingled going numb and he dug his finger nails into his palm to try to retain some feeling.

Ari smirked. "Just a high dose of this anaesthetic, it's alright you'll be out cold in a couple of minutes."

Iggy scowled and then took a deep breath, his heart rate increasing. He felt oddly drained, his pupils dilating. His arms shook then collapsed slipping out from under him as he crumpled to the ground. There was a strange feeling of euphoria flooding over him and confusing his thoughts and making him feel giddy.

Ari laughed at the pained groan which escaped the other's lips and lifted Iggy easily heading for the door. The Eraser smiled down at is captive as they reached the doors and left the room.

"Welcome to hell."

* * *

_A/N: Okay so I updated… my updates are getting longer too. I was originally thinking that there is no way Iggy would have broken down that fast… and then I went back and re-read the book and well though Angel is around six years younger than him (and that was the only opinion of the School you have to go on). I still think that a place like that would wear anyone down quickly. So my point is… I'm not sure what my point is. Also I was half-asleep whilst I was writing it XD_

_Ketamine: Ketamine is a hallucinogenic dissociative anaesthetic which is used in surgery and veterinary medicine. This drug produces amnesia (memory loss) and also analgesia (pain-relief). Ketamine also has dissociative effects which causes a user to feel removed from their body and the surrounding environment. Users can become psychologically dependent._

_I've told you about that because depending on what I decide it may come into the story later, I haven't quite decided yet._

_And sorry for the late update, I was quite busy yesturday evening. Thanks for the reviews!_

_-ElvenHope_


	9. Chapter 8

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope-

**Chapter 8**

How many times would he have to wake up feeling like this? His mouth was dry and his throat was sore. Head pounding he reached up and traced the door of his cage. Part of him was starting to accept this prison again; it wasn't all that hard to slip into the state of mind he had been in before they knew there was a world beyond the School. The others weren't coming for him and that was best.

It was hot in here; or maybe he had a temperature, that was more likely. He was almost certain that the School had air conditioning. His thoughts were becoming sporadic, jumping disjointedly and he realised a few times that he had fallen asleep again somewhere in between.

When he was finally lucid enough he sat up – as best he could in the dog-crate – and once again wished he could see. It was terrible to be sitting here trapped in the dark and in such a small space. He could barely move without bashing into something. He was bruised all over and he wished that he could just go back to sleep. Laying back down he bashed into the walls a few times before he got comfortable. Slipping back into darkness he was rudely awakened a few minutes later.

"Having fun?" A voice leered from somewhere close by. Iggy was having problems piecing together information at the moment.

He titled his head in the direction he thought the voice had come from. "W-what…?"

"Don't you get bored just sitting in there?" Ari asked inquisitively. "Maybe you'd like to run some mazes or something..."

"Don't you have anything better to do?" Iggy asked crossly trying desperately to recollect his scattered thoughts as he sat up.

"As a matter of fact I do," the other replied, "I just thought I'd come check up on you."

Not caring to talk right now Iggy simply ignored the Eraser. He lay there trying to put everything in place, trying to focus. He cursed Ari, cursed the hell-hounds that worked here. He hated this whole place!

* * *

Fang wondered if she was actually going to cry again. He hated seeing her like this; Max was always so confident and invincible. Now, well now he wasn't so sure what would happen, she hadn't been this out of control since Jeb left. And he had caused all of this! Why did he have to be so stupid, so pig-headed… He had single-handedly thrown them all into the path of the Erasers and the School once again.

Angel _was_ crying already and Gazzy was holding onto her hand his own eyes shining though he seemed to be trying to keep himself together. He could be one tough little kid sometimes.

"You've got to look after all these girls now, Gaz," Fang grinned ruffling the boy's hair. "You think you can handle them? They're pretty weird sometimes you kno- Hey!" He rubbed his head where Max had swatted him. "What was that for?"

"For being an ass," Max replied giving him a watery smile. _Oh god she wasn't going to break down again was she?_ He really didn't think that he could leave her in a state, but time was running out.

Amazingly she seemed to be keeping herself together as she pulled him in for a hug holding him tightly. "You'll be careful won't you?"

He pushed her away a little; she was squeezing him so hard he was almost certain that something would break if she didn't let go soon.

"I'll be fine alright, I _can_ take care of myself you know," he smiled.

"I just feel like I should be going with you-"

"_You_ are staying here doing what you always should," he replied looking over her shoulder at the younger ones. This was completely insane! What was he doing? He couldn't do anything when he got to the School it would all just be a waste of time. He sighed and ran a hand through his hair. "I just hope that I can help somehow."

"Well just don't do anything stupid," Max replied lifting his back-pack from near his feet and handing it to him. "There's a map in there you want to fly South West for a while," they all had an inborn sense of direction, so she didn't know why she was telling him. She just wanted to feel like she was helping. She hated being left behind. "The walkie-talkie is in the side pocket, and I've put new batteries in there and set it to the right frequency – I wrote it down on a piece of paper as well so if you knock it off or something-"

"I'll be fine-"

"There's food too," Max cut him off. "And if you're gone longer than a week then-"

"Then _don't _even think about coming after me," Fang replied grasping her shoulders. "Just don't Max," he looked over at the others. "And that goes for you guys too."

He gave them each one last goodbye hug suddenly feeling like he was walking to his death as he headed for the door.

The first red fingers of sunrise were steadily creeping out over the horizon as they left the house. Fang stood for a moment letting the wind ruffle his hair trying to get all his thoughts together. Going back there, back to the School was a terrible thought. Just the name sent a shiver down his spine; but he had caused all this and he would be damned if he wasn't going to fix it.

Turning back to the others, squinting to see past the sun, he put on a brave face and waved goodbye. His wings shone ebony as he spread them – all fourteen foot of them – and took off.

Max watched, waving with the others and wishing him good luck. Fang was silhouetted in the sun for a moment as he kicked off and then he was sprinting away across the sky. Their raptor vision allowed them to watch until he was only the smallest shadows streaking across the pale purples and blues of early morning. They carried on shouting their goodbyes until he was finally out of site.

If Nudge had not tugged her hand then Max would have probably stood there all day. She couldn't quite believe that she had let him go just like that. Some part of her felt that he wasn't going to come back or that something terrible was going to happen. It made her shiver, the phantoms at the back of her mind twisting every possibility of what could happen into complete paranoia.

"How about I make breakfast?" Nudge asked feigning happiness as she tried to make the situation seem brighter.

Gazzy actually seemed to brighten then. Max gave Nudge a grateful look as she led them all inside and started to make food. She did her very best to be just as chirpy as Nudge, but no matter how hard she tried she couldn't quite manage it. She had just send Fang to his death… or worse.

* * *

The shunt in the back of his hand hurt; it hurt a lot. They had obviously decided that they couldn't trust him after what happened yesterday, and he had made every effort to be rebellious. Not that it really helped much. It hadn't prevented them from installing the shunt, and now taking blood was even easier for them. He cradled his hand to his chest whilst he slept squashed up at the back of his crate dreaming of water. His mouth was dry and the dehydration was making him tired and slow.

When anyone came in he simply ignored them. If they wanted blood they had to drag him out of the crate, he wasn't compliant, but neither did he fight back. He saw no point in fighting; he always seemed to end up worse for it.

Two white coats were in the room now; he was pretending to be asleep. He could tell it wouldn't really matter to them. They'd wake him up anyway, but maybe if they thought he was asleep they'd say something worth listening to.

Unfortunately for him all that seemed to be on their minds was tests. A moment later his crate door opened. He wished that he hadn't been pretending to be asleep when a jolt of electricity shot up his back. He jumped his head hitting the top of the crate with a large _thwack_.

"Good you're awake," at least these guys didn't refer to him as an 'it'. "Now just come over here and be good."

Iggy turned to glare at them, hoping he was giving off the right effect. Glaring was hard nowadays. "What do you want?"

"Just some blood," the man replied feigning kindness. Iggy simply glared harder, he felt like being rebellious for a moment before deciding against it. He had so many bruises already from the stupid tasers. Instead he stretched out his arm and let them have what they wanted. What else could he do?

He heard some liquid being poured into a cup then, he knew it was full when it changed pitch and waited. Wondering whether it was some disgusting stuff he was going to have to drink or maybe just water. It sounded like water, but he couldn't be sure.

To his amazement it was. Well he supposed they didn't want him keeling over on them or anything. He drained the cup quickly not caring that some of the precious liquid missed his mouth altogether and dribbled down his chin in his haste. He was too starved of both water and food to care – and if he was truly honest he was grateful that they'd decided to give him something to drink. He swiped at his chin when he was done letting the man take the cup from his hand.

His crate door was shut then and he moved to the back of it hoping to get some sleep. He was already feeling woozy from blood-loss and there was a strange buzzing in his ears like a bee was hovering there. He knew it wasn't though. That buzzing sound always accompanied the wave of tiredness and he drifted off into delirium soon after.

* * *

Fang had been flying for three hours, catching the occasional air current as he sped away from the Rockies he was making good time. It would take him another four hours to reach the School and he had decided to take a rest stop. Flying was hard work, but it was fun as hell too. He banked loosing altitude until he landed in a wooded clearing. He didn't like landing amongst trees, but he didn't want to get spotted either. Pulling in his wings he scanned the area quickly before flopping down on the grass.

For a moment he actually considered sleeping before sense hit him again and he hauled himself up. Unzipping his back-pack he pulled out the map and a drinks flask along with the walkie-talkie. He mares well try contacting the others to see if it worked. He just wanted to see if the thing would work. He was already nearly three hundred miles from the others so he had a hunch that it wouldn't.

Before that though, he was going to try and get his breath back and unfolded the map. Death Valley was nearly four hundred miles away. He grimaced, his wings ached. He wondered if he should take a rest stop before reaching the School. It might be dangerous to try and find a suitable place to sleep so close.

Squinting at the words on the map he wondered who on earth had named these places. _Death Valley, Dante's Peak… Devil's Golf Course!_ Was someone actually paid to sit in a room somewhere and thing up all of these ridiculous names? The School would be near Devil's Golf Course it was more or less ten miles from Badwater Basin. He grinned; if this was where he was going to put a building full of sickos it would be right here. _From Dante's view head down to the Badwater, follow that to the Devil's Golf Course, if you hit the River Styx then you've gone too far._

He sighed folding the map away and tentatively lifting the walkie-talkie. Half of him didn't want to try it, much preferring the illusion that it _might_ work. He flicked the switch and it crackled into life. Uncertain as to whether that meant anything or not he held down the button and waited a second before speaking. He knew that it wasn't going to work. Most walkie-talkie's only had a one mile range maybe four if he was lucky. It was _not_ going to work.

"Hello?" He let go of the button and heard the static. He sat there for a while not expecting a reply and was shocked when he did get one.

"Hello Fang, long time no talk."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update. The insane thing is that I had it all ready and then I changed part of it and then... well something weird happened to the site for a day. So that's kinda why. This chapter's kinda weird because I wrote it all spaced apart and I can't remember whether it's well written or not. I know the part that I just wrote (which is in fact the beginning) isn't very good so yeah..._

_Anyway thanks for the reviews. Except the nasty one I got (I forgot about it actually). Well basically some rude person claimed that my plot was nicked from Elemental-Animal's story, but that was written over a month after this so just get your facts right before you flame._

_-ElvenHope_


	10. Chapter 9

**-Blind Faith-**

-ElvenHope

**Chapter 9**

Fang swore and turned off the walkie-talkie quickly. That had been Ari; Ari's voice. How in hell had he known he was here? He jammed everything back into his back-pack in a hurry. His first thought had been to fly, but he stopped himself. He had heard a sound in the back-ground when Ari spoke, a mechanical whirring and ferocious winds. He could be in a chopper and he couldn't risk it if he was.

The frightening thing was that Ari had to be within at least a ten mile radius; and Erasers rarely ever hunted alone. He couldn't risk flying. They would be looking for him in the sky and if they spotted him then he was a goner out here by himself. They had guns and helicopters. Sure he could fly, but he wasn't going to risk it. He had promised Max that he wouldn't do anything stupid.

Hefting the bag quickly he sprinted through the woods without a second thought. He easily dodged the roots and a few fallen trees twisting around brambles and jumping down slopes. He had an agility that was not common for humans, and he was faster than normal too.

Fang couldn't run forever though; he had to stop to catch his breath after just under a mile. He wandered on through the trees, knowing that he'd eventually break out into desert. That would be even more dangerous, there would be hardly anywhere to hide walking or flying. That was unless he stopped off at Las Vegas. He couldn't see that going down well. Large groups of people alone worried him, but from what he'd seen of the city it was a mind-boggling bustle of noise and lights. No he was going to stay as far away from there as possible.

It was nearly eleven now and he still had so far to go. He desperately wanted to fly; he could make it there by this evening if he flew, it'd be another five hours or so. He could detour of course; make his way towards Phoenix and throw Ari off his scent, but that would be a much larger detour than he would like especially if he was walking.

Heading away from the Sangre de Cristos he headed South-West towards the Grand Canyon deciding that there would almost certainly be somewhere he could sleep there. He could either tuck himself away in some cave in the Canyon itself or try and find a hotel. The idea was not an appealing one; he hadn't ever been around people. Still it might be safer than spending the night in the Canyon.

After nearly an hour he found a river and followed it in the hope that it would lead to Lake Powell. It ran down nearly completely south for a while and the trees thickened a little around him. He was actually enjoying himself; the mountain air was fresh and scented with sweet smelling flowers. His thoughts immediately turned back to Iggy though. He was just wandering along and enjoying himself and his friend was going through hell.

He picked up the pace immediately, all thoughts of the beautiful scenery forgotten. And then he heard it as he finally snapped back to the present. A low buzzing sound, like some gigantic fly in the distance, but it was closing in fast.

Fight or flight? He didn't have a choice really. In fact it was more like flight or hide somewhere and hope he didn't get spotted. That wouldn't be too hard for him. If he could find a nice group of trees and hide in the lower branches.

He scrambled up into the trees, and found a spot far back against the trunk of a pine, he was glad that the branches were so closely packed though it made it hard to get comfortable. He didn't want to fall out of the tree because his position was too precarious.

The first voices drifted in from surprisingly close by. There were more Erasers, not just the ones in the helicopter; and they were headed straight for him.

"He was sighted a few hundred yards from here three minutes ago," one was saying and he heard the click of a receiver.

"We can't find him, over." A second Eraser said tightly and then let go of the speaker.

From where he was sitting Fang could clearly hear the crackle of the receiver and a heavy whooshing sound accompanied by Ari's voice blared from the speaker.

"He's there somewhere just keep looking," Ari replied crossly. "You've been trained haven't you, how hard can it be to find him? Over."

"Alright we'll keep looking," Was the sour reply as the Erasers continued to move towards him. The chopper was closer now, louder. How long would they be searching for him? He was wasting time stuck up here in this tree.

A strong gust of wind shook the tree he was in violently. There was a moment of panic as he tried to grab hold of something, anything. His hands scrabbled futilely as he fell crashing through the branches. His reflexes enabled him to catch the last branch; he used the momentum to swing round landing crouched on the branch like the perfect gymnast.

He turned back to the stunned Erasers grinning. "So long suckers!"

However cheesy it sounded it felt great to be able to repeat lines he'd heard in movies in his daily life. He kicked off from the branch glad that he had the strength to propel himself beyond the lower branches of the trees where he could unfold his wings easily.

He cut a path across the sky streaking towards the sun the chopper now in pursuit. He could see no other way to go but up. The clouds were low today if he could just get lost in them…

He put on another burst of speed wings pumping ferociously and his heart racing with adrenaline. Flying was always so exhilarating, especially when you were being chased by a bunch of mutants with guns. He felt the sun's heat searing across his back absorbed by the dark colours of his wings. He wondered idly if he'd just plummet to earth like Icarus if he flew too close. Then again Icarus had wax wings, and the air would become too thin for him to breathe soon.

The wind was rushing in his ears, and the helicopter was following him up, the sound of the rota blades spinning nearly deafening. And then he broke through the clouds and for a moment time really did stand still. He had thought that it was impossible for heaven to exist, but staring out at the rolling white planes of the sky; the edges of the cloud accented with gold he suddenly realized that it did. The sunlight was nearly blinding and the sudden whirring of the helicopter reminded him that he needed to find somewhere to hide.

He almost laughed at the thought. Hide up here? He took a deep breath, feeling the strain of the thin air and spiralled back down swerving sideways and then ducking through a cloud.

_WET!!_ He couldn't breath and he couldn't move his wings; suddenly soaked to the bone. He tumbled down through the cloud shielding his head with his arms.

Drawing in a sharp breath as he finally broke through the underside of the cloud he plummeted back to earth pulling his wings in tight for a dive. He wasn't sure how he was going to get out of this one. He could still hear the chopper somewhere in the distance and knew that they hadn't lost sight of him. The ground was coming up fast to meet him, but he needed to go faster still if he was going to escape.

Barrelling towards the ground at top speed he crashed through the trees and landed on his hands and knees. He waited until he began to breathe air again instead of fire and then he was off again. Up in an instant sprinting through the woods. He was truly reaching the end of his rope now. Even his enhanced stamina couldn't put up with this much abuse.

The sound of the chopper's rota was still somewhere above him; his befuddled mind couldn't pin-point it's exact location and the world was tilting dangerously as he stumbled through the undergrowth.

The silenced gun didn't give Fang any warning. A moment later pain seared across his shoulder and he staggered before falling into the leafy forest floor. Grunting he hauled himself back up one arm hanging limply. They were trying to hit his wings; he knew that. If they ruined his wings then it would only be a matter of time before he was caught. Then again he wasn't sure if he _could_ fly with this wound. He was in agony and trying to open his wings only a little hurt like hell. Along with that he would bleed to death. This wasn't looking good.

Another shot and he was on his knees a cry torn from his throat before he could bite it back. There was a freaking bullet in his leg and another one in his shoulder! _Move!_ _Move!_ His mind was screaming at him to do something, but he couldn't find the strength. Shit, they were going to kill him, or catch him or do whatever they wanted and he was just going to sit here and let them do it. Worst of all though he was leaving Max and the others and Iggy was still trapped!

He shifted again, but stopped when he felt the cool metal of a gun barrel pressed to his forehead.

"Don't move," the voice was distorted by the blood pounding in his ears, but he could still hear the smooth tone and the smirk which quirked the owner's lips. It made him want to wipe the smile off his face. That was rather hard right at the moment though.

Footsteps came up on his other side and there was the click of a speaker. "We've got him."

* * *

_A/N: Sorry for the late update, this one is shorter too, but at least it's something right? I really apologise for that. Also this is all Fang, so it may not be the most interesting seeing as I'm guessing mostly Iggy fans are reading this...? Anyway thanks for the lovely reviews!_

_-ElvenHope_


End file.
